Hon. Benes Z. Aldana (Ret.)
President, The National Judicial College

September 12, 2018 at noon
The lecture will be held in the Faculty Lounge on the 4th floor of UNLV's RLL Building
Parking information will be sent the day before the event.

https://www.unlv.edu/maps/mcb
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Prior to being named the Coast Guard’s chief trial judge, he served as an appellate judge (2015-16) and trial judge (2005-2011). Before that, he was chief legal officer of the Eighth Coast Guard District in New Orleans, Louisiana. In that role, he oversaw the largest field legal office in the Coast Guard, providing legal support to more than 4,700 personnel at more than 80 operational units in 26 states.

Before his posting in New Orleans, he served as chief counsel of the Legal Engagements Division of the Defense Department’s U.S. Africa Command, which is based in Stuttgart, Germany. He led the U.S. military’s efforts in advancing the rule of law by working with African partner nation militaries and organizations such as the International Institute of Humanitarian Law and the Defense Institute of International Legal Studies.

In the aftermath of 9/11, he was deployed as a legal adviser to the Department of Defense Criminal Investigation Task Force in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, conducting criminal investigations against suspected terrorists detained by U.S. forces. He also served as a trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice’s Environmental Enforcement Section.

Outside of his military service, Aldana has been active in leadership of the American Bar Association, which helped launch the National Judicial College in 1963 and still supports the College financially. He is currently a member of the ABA Law and National Security Advisory Committee. He recently completed service on the board of the ABA Rule of Law Initiative and on the ABA Commission on Diversity and Inclusion 360. He is a past chair of the ABA Solo, Small Firm and General Practice Division. He also served as assembly speaker of the ABA Young Lawyers Division and was a member of the ABA House of Delegates.

Judge Aldana is a 1991 cum laude graduate of Seattle University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in political science. While in college he served as student body president and as a congressional intern on Capitol Hill. He received his Juris Doctor in 1994 from the University of Washington School of Law.